Important - I Love You
by StephanoGoldenEdition
Summary: The Lady in Red has never questioned her role in Mary's life. But, when a Doll finds book of Mary's on how to make friends, she, it and the Lady in Blue wonder if they really are important to the blonde girl. Rated for safety. Crappy summary, I know.


**Set before the events of the game. OOC (knowing me) and AU...**

**Mary: 9**

* * *

"Look! I drew it, finally!"

At this exclamation, several of the paintings jumped, the sudden outburst disturbing the occupants of the gallery. Several of the painting's inhabitants grumbled, but most of them smiled (or did their own equivalent of) warmly and made their way to the source of the noise, one of the Ladies in Red leading the way.

"Come on!" Mary was standing anxiously at the beginning of the corridor; her expression lit up as she saw the crowd heading towards her and she took off for her little corner, grabbing the brown art book and opening it to the previously-used page, smoothing it out.

"You did?" the Lady in Red called from the end corridor. She was overtaken by a doll and several eyes, which were speeding down the corridor; they crashed into the small girl, who laughed in delight and embraced the doll, who had leapt into her arms.

"Yes!" Mary looked back to the nearing Red Lady, "You wanna see it?"

"Of course!" the Lady came to the corner and pushed herself up, hooking her frame on the hand-shaped hooks, "I would love to see it!"

"Here!" the blonde girl handed her the book; on the page, a rough drawing of a young-seeming girl sat there, dressed in white and red. The picture, though looking like a five-year-old had drawn it, made the Lady smile.

"It's lovely, Mary!" she said, beaming at the girl, "Do you want me to keep it with your other drawings?"

"Yep!" taking the book from the painting, Mary carefully tore the page out and handed it back to the Lady, who tucked it away inside of her frame. "Can you read with me now?"

"Now?" the Lady paused, "It's almost your bed-time, though."

"_Please_?" Mary held a book in her hands, "_Please! _Just one...?"

"...Fine." Mary let out a cry of happiness and pushed aside her art supplies to make room to sit down. Multiple creatures, including Eyes and Mannequin Heads, made themselves comfortable as Mary opened the brown book.

"'Chapterone_'..._"

(Later)

Unhooking herself from the wall, the Lady in Red picked the sleeping Mary up with one arm and used the other to move across the floor, followed by the Mannequin heads and the Eyes. The eyes of her fellow Ladies followed her down the corridor, almost disapprovingly.

'_She's one of us,' _a blue Lady seemed to say, '_We don't need to be babied..._'

Ignoring this, the Lady in Red continued down the hallways until she reached the small bed near the doll's room. It was a soft green, and a small yellow rose lay on it.

Pulling back the covers, the Lady lay the girl down and tucked the covers under her chin.

"Mmm, night..." Mary opened her eyes slightly, grasping at the Lady's hand tightly, "...Thanks."

"...No problem," the Lady smiled and leaned forward, placing a kiss on the girl's cheek, "And, goodnight to you."

Freeing her hand, the painting headed towards the end of the hallway, stopping at the end to glace back at the sleeping blonde. A sigh left her lips and she shook her head slightly, turning back and heading back to her sleeping quarters.

(Midnight)

_Mistress!_

The Lady in Red groaned, her eyes scrunching up as she tried to ignore the shouting-level voice echoing in the room.

_Wake up! _

"Damnit..." one of the other paintings – a Lady in Blue – grunted and reached over, punching the Lady in Red, "Just answer it, woman!"

"...What is it?" the Lady in Red opened her eyes, looking around until her gaze met the one of the small Doll's. For a doll, it looked concerned, and in its hand was one of Mary's many books.

_I was looking through the Little Mistress' books, and I found this!_

It extended its hand, and the Lady took the book, narrowing her gaze at it. It was large, thin, and brown. An image of two people was on the front cover, and the title was –

"Oh."

– "How To Make Friends: A Simple Step –By – Step Guide to Excelling in Your Relationships".

_See? _The doll looked almost concerned, _See how desperate she is? _

"...She has _us_, you realise," the Lady in Blue was wide awake now, trying to get involved in the conversation, "I mean, it's not like she's _alone_, as such..."

"..." the Lady in Red was flicking through the book, "...I think she wants friends that can actually _play _with her, and give her proper company, and can relate with here."

_She's right, you know_, the doll pointed out, _We're only exhibits, after all. Heck, half of us aren't even wholly humane! _

"But..." the Lady in Red looked confused, "I thought...well, that we were enough...I always thought that."

"It seems not," The Lady in Blue crossed her arms, "Paintings can't replace humans, that's basic knowledge."

_She's lonely, _the doll put in, _it's a shame none of the human-like paintings like her...I guess I see Blue's point, though..._

"But, still..." the Lady in Red looked at the book again, "This is just-."

"What're you doing?"

All three exhibits looked towards the source of the voice; Mary was standing in front of the door, looking surprised.

"Nothing!" the Lady in Blue snapped, "Go back to bed!"

"Blue!" The Lady in Red glared at the painting next to her, but the Blue Lady had turned her back, arms crossed.

"What...?" Mary walked forward, "What did I do?"

"Not good enough, are we!?" the Lady in Blue snapped, earning a punch in the back from the Lady in Red.

"...what do you mean?" Mary frowned, "I don't understand- oh." Her gaze fell onto the book in the Red Lady's hands. "...It's not what you think it is-!"

"Yes, it is!" the Lady in Blue turned back around, her eyes blazing, "We've done so much for you! But it seems we're enough for you! You want some _fancy human _with legs, a heart and a humane appearance, don't you!?"

"..." Mary looked at the doll, who avoided her gaze, "Do you feel like that?"

_I do, actually..._the doll shook its head, _We're always here for you, always...yet we're not enough, it seems. Yes, I do feel slightly upset._

"And you?" Mary moved her gaze to the Lady in Red, "Do agree with this?"

"...I can't answer that," came the soft response, "It's true; you're like a daughter to me, and I do all that I can for you...and yes, I guess I feel useless now. But," she smiled, albeit somewhat sadly, "If human friends are what you want...I won't stop you! Your happiness is vital!"

_Seriously? _The doll looked at her incredulously, _You're just gonna let it go?_

"It's what she wants..." the Lady shrugged.

"That's crap!" the Lady in Blue snapped, "We're all you need! Humans belong where they belong!"

"Blue-." The Lady in Red was cut off; Blue was in full swing,

"No! I feel so _disregarded!_ You're one of us, and now you're branching out! Sure! But, Sure! But, why must you go after humans!? I, for one, fine that extremely-!"

"_Shut up, Blue!_"

The Lady in Blue closer her mouth in shock; the Red Lady was glaring at her with uncharacteristic anger. Taking a deep breath, Red turned back to the startled Mary and said in a calmer tone,

"As I said, do what you wish..." she smiled wistfully, "But...We'll be here for you, right?" she looked around at the other two; Blue merely grunted, but the doll nodded slowly,

_Yes...we will..._

"I..." Mary moved over to the Red Lady and took her down, much to the painting's surprise, "I appreciate what you do for me...but I need human company. You understand, right?" she looked up at the Lady, her eyes swimming with tears, "I never meant to offend you..."

"..." the Lady in Red was silent.

"...tell me you u-understand!" Mary's voice began to crack, "Please! You have t-to! I...I would never hurt you!" Tears fell from her eyes; the Lady in Red bit her lip.

"Please!"

"...Of course I do, darling..." she murmured finally, pulling the distressed child to her and embracing her, "I do...I'm not mad..."

Mary reply was unintelligible, but the tightening of her hands on the Lady's red dress front said something. The Red Lady stroked the girl's hair; the doll came up and hugged her as best it could.

_Neither am I, _it said, _I will not pretend to understand...but I'm not mad..._

Mary looked up at the Lady in Red, taking shuddering breaths,

"I-I...I have to d-do it..." she hiccoughed ungracefully, "I-I need to h-have people li-like me a-around..."

"Yes," the Lady nodded, "We understand...go ahead. We're always here for you."

"...I know."

Picking the girl gently up in one arm, the Red Lady made her way back to Mary's bed, the doll trailing behind them. On the walls, some of the paintings, who had doubtlessly overheard the conversation, watched the group pass by; some looked rather offended, while others wore a look of sympathy. All, however, didn't stop following them with their gazes until they were out of sight.

Upon reaching the bed, the Red Lady placed Mary on it, once again tucking her in. The doll scampered onto the bed and snuggled next to the girl, who gave a faint, tired smile and hugged the doll to her.

_No matter what you choose_, the doll trailed off, looking at the Red Lady.

"...We'll be there for you." She finished, smiling gently at the girl, "We'll always be on your side..."

"...I know..." Mary's eyes were half closed, and she let out a yawn, "Thank you..."

"No need," the Red Lady stroked her hair once more, "Anything for you."

_Right..._the doll voiced its weary opinion, _Anything..._

"...I love you...everyone here..." Mary murmured, her eyes gently fluttering closed and her breathing evening out. Both doll and Lady gasped, surprised that Mary had admitted this, then smiled at each other.

_Love you too, _The doll replied quietly, _I wish the best for you._

"Same..." the Lady in Red whispered, "I love you too, Mary..." she leant down and kissed the blonde's cheek, "and goodnight."

Nodding to the doll, the Lady made her way to her sleeping quarters, looking back once.

'_I hope you achieve what you desire_,' she thought, turning back and continuing on her way.

* * *

**Woah...O.O**

**I got the inspiration from a picture I found...** clubs/ib-game/images/31646568/title/mary-fanart **I don't own the art work; all credit goes to the artist.**

**Also, the song "Ib" by IA helped with this...it's such a pretty song~ Again, this is OOC and Semi-AU...so please take that into consideration.**

**~Stephano**


End file.
